Going Back
by She's a Star
Summary: In their seventh year, the Marauders made a promise that they'd meet at the Three Broomsticks in twenty years. Two decades later, Remus faces going back.


Going Back  
  
  
  
A Fanfiction by She's a Star  
  
  
  
It was cold that night. The snow swirled around him, lifted by the wind from the icy ground. That made the memory even more vivid-it had been exactly like that when they'd made the promise. The promise that no matter what happened, no matter how far their lives traveled apart from each others', they would still meet at that night, at their table, like no time had passed at all.  
Two of their number were gone now.  
James was never coming back-he was gone forever, he had died. In a way, so had Peter. He wasn't who he'd used to be anymore, he wasn't Wormtail, one of the four Marauders. So it was as if he was dead, as well.  
So Remus Lupin was all alone as he pushed the door open and walked into the Three Broomsticks. The bells tied to the door jingled merrily as he entered.  
"Hello, Remus," Madam Rosmerta said with a warm smile.   
"Hello, Rosmerta," Remus replied, giving her a smile in return.  
"What can I get you this evening?" she asked.  
"Just a butterbeer, thanks," he said distractedly, looking over at the table in the corner. That had been their table-he couldn't count how many times he and the other Marauders had sat there, carefree and fun-loving, not knowing the turmoil that they'd soon go through.  
He wondered briefly if Sirius was going to show up, though he doubted it. It wasn't worth it-if anyone spotted him, he'd be sent right back to Azkaban. A silly schoolboy pact wasn't worth that.  
But just in case...  
"Make that two," Remus said.  
"Hot date?" Rosmerta asked, her eyes twinkling.  
"No," Remus laughed. "Just meeting an old friend."  
"Oh, all right then," Rosmerta said, filling another mug with butterbeer. Remus detected a note of sympathy in her voice-she was probably thinking what he'd thought for the past twelve years-that he was the only one left. She didn't know that Peter was alive, that Sirius was innocent.   
Remus paid, then took the mugs and walked slowly towards the table. Memories were flashing before his eyes...Sirius flirting shamelessly with Rosmerta, even though she was at least four years older than they were-he had always been a flirt. Peter laughing along the sidelines-it seemed as though he'd never been the center of attention. Maybe that was why he'd betrayed them...  
And James. James sitting, looking as though his life was truly perfect, with Lily in his lap. When those two were together, you could tell that they disappeared into their own little world.   
Remus had had someone like that once. He still missed her sometimes, and thought of her often. They'd grown apart after Hogwarts-the last time he had seen her was at Lily and James' funeral. Sometimes, when he was in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, he thought that he saw her, but he didn't bother to take a closer look and confirm whether it was her or not. They had their own lives now-for all he knew, she could be happily married with children.  
With a sigh, he sank down into the chair where he'd always sat when they came there during their Hogwarts days. It felt so strange, sitting alone there, when on previous trips he had always been surrounded by his best friends.  
The bells on the door jingled again, and a figure walked in. They walked with their head down low, a cloak covering them and their face almost completely swallowed by the hood. Remus realized that it was Sirius immediately. It was sad, seeing him like this. Back when they were at Hogwarts, he always walked, head high, with a confident stride, followed by different admirers-mostly girls. Now, if those same girls saw him they would probably scream in horror and report him to the Ministry as soon as possible.   
"Can I help you, sir?" Rosmerta asked, sounding suspicious.  
"No," Sirius said, his voice hoarse and scratchy instead of confident and charming. "I'm with him."  
He pointed at Remus.  
"Oh, all right," Rosmerta said, relaxing visibly.  
Sirius walked over and sat down in the seat across from him, where he had always sat.   
"Hi Moony," he said in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper.  
"Hi," Remus said. "Listen, I didn't think you were going to show up-are you sure it's safe, for you to be here?"  
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Sirius muttered. "The place is practically deserted."  
"If you're sure," Remus said, trying to keep the worry out of his tone-he had always been the worried one. "At least you showed up."  
"Yeah," Sirius said. Remus was sure he was grinning, even though he couldn't see his face beneath the black hood. "I wasn't about to forget about our promise." He stared at the two empty seats. "James wouldn't have either-but Peter-" he shook his head, and then continued in disgust. "-He was always a traitor."  
"Not always," Remus argued, careful to keep his voice quiet. "I think-"  
Just then, Rosmerta walked over, her sparkly shoes glittering in the bright light.  
"All right, here, fellows?" she asked, turning her head slightly towards Sirius. She was probably trying to figure out who he was, Remus decided.  
"Yes, fine, thank you," Remus said, giving her a smile.  
"Fine," Sirius echoed.  
"All right," Rosmerta looked a little reluctant to leave. "You know, this place is practically dead, I'll be taking a break in a minute."  
It was obvious what she was hinting at, but Remus played dumb.  
"Yes, it is pretty dead in here," he agreed.   
"I was thinking maybe I-"  
Rosmerta was cut off by the jingling of the bells as the door swung open again, and in walked Harry, his best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, and Ron's younger sister Ginny. Harry and Ginny were very engaged in their conversation, and Remus noticed that her cheeks were quite flushed.  
"Hello!" Rosmerta greeted them, leaving their table immediately. "Aren't you supposed to be back at the school? It's almost seven o'clock."  
"We leave at seven thirty to go back to Hogwarts," Hermione informed her.   
"All right," Rosmerta said, looking back at Remus's table a bit reluctantly. "What would you like?"  
Hermione paused, waiting for the others to name their orders, but Ron was listening to Harry and Ginny, who were still absorbed in their conversation.  
She sighed in exasperation. "Four butterbeers, please."  
"All right," Rosmerta said with a grin. "Just a minute. You can go sit at a table."  
Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were about to sit down at a table in the center of the room when Harry spotted Remus.  
"Hi!" he called, waving. The four of them walked over to their table.  
"Hello, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny," Remus said with a smile as they came over. Harry sat in James's seat, and Hermione in Peter's. Ron stood above Hermione's with his hands on her shoulders, and Ginny stood awkwardly next to Harry's until he motioned for her (with his cheeks flaming) to share the chair with him.  
"So...having fun?" Remus asked.  
However, the four of them were staring at Sirius, obviously trying to figure out who it was.  
"It's me," Sirius hissed.  
"Sirius?" Harry whispered back.  
"Yeah," Sirius said.  
"Oh...why are you here?" Harry's green eyes that resembled Lily's so much filled with worry. "You could get caught, you should leave right now!"  
"Harry, relax," Sirius said. "No one has noticed yet, even though Rosmerta's a little suspicious."  
"Want me to go distract her? I could...talk to her about drinks or something," Ron said, sounding delighted at the prospect. Hermione turned around, slapped his forearm lightly and muttered, "Oh, honestly."  
Ron gave her a sheepish smile, and she smiled back. Remus had to stop from laughing-it was amusing, how much those two liked each other and yet they never admitted it. He then turned around to see Harry still whispering worriedly to Sirius. He reminded him so much of James, who had always worried when it came to Sirius as well. As Harry turned back to Ginny, obviously finally convinced that nothing bad was going to happen to his godfather, Remus felt a pang in his heart. With Harry looking so much like James, and Ginny with her red hair and happy smile that slightly resembled Lily's, it was almost like seeing them here all over again.  
After talking for another ten minutes, Hermione checked her watch and said, "You know, we really should start heading back to school now."   
Ron looked at the watch over her shoulder. "Hermione, we still have twenty minutes!"  
"Yes," Hermione said. "But we have to be BACK by 7:30, and I thought that you said you wanted to go to Quality Quiddich Supplies."  
"Oh, right," Ron said. The four of them stood up, and after many enthusiastic goodbyes, left the pub.  
"Harry and Ginny..." Sirius started, and his voice trailed off.  
"James and Lily, right?" Remus said. For a moment, it had felt as though it was all of them sitting there. Well, almost all of them.  
"It's just amazing, how they look so much alike," Sirius said quietly. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Finally, Remus cleared his throat.  
"It's so...strange, how much life can change in twenty years," he said quietly. "I mean, when we made the pact, I thought that we would all be sitting here, just acting like we used to."  
"Things change," Sirius said. "I guess I did just have it too good to be true-something bad had to happen sometime."  
"No innocent man deserves Azkaban," Remus replied. A silence filled their table-it wasn't an awkward one, though, they had been friends for too many years to suffer awkward silences. It was just...remembering everything that they and the two others who were now gone had endured.  
Remus closed his eyes, and in his mind conjured up a picture of them, back in their seventh year, sitting there and laughing and talking while Sirius flirted with Rosmerta, James and Lily stared at each other, and Peter and himself made fun of the others. It had been so blissful, though he hadn't known it then. Now two of his best friends were gone. At a time, he'd thought three.  
At least Sirius was here.  
At least he wasn't sitting at the table all by himself.  
At least he wasn't the last one left.  
He opened his eyes, and the two of them sat in silence, not daring to speak and forever banish the memories that he knew each of them held dearly.  
Finally, after at least an hour of just sitting, thinking, and occasionally sipping butterbeer, Sirius rose and said, "I'd better get out of here. It usually fills up around nine o'clock, and it'd be too risky to be here then."  
"I should leave, too," Remus said, though he had nothing to go home to.  
So the two of them stood up and walked out of the pub, parting their separate ways until their next meeting.  
Neither of them noticed a grizzled, beat-up rat scamper out behind them.  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: Everything is JK Rowling's except the plot :)  
  
A/N: Thanks so much for reading-please review!   
  



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